Hospital Association Awards HMC’s Latino Outreach Initiative

Published March 6, 2008

Hunterdon Medical Center was one of several individuals and organizations honored at the 89th Annual Meeting of the New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) held on February 29th at the Hyatt Regency Princeton. NJHA annually recognizes hospitals that demonstrate unique and effective methods of reaching out to better serve the healthcare needs of area residents.  The 2008 Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey’s Community Outreach Awards recognize outstanding community achievements in the following categories: disease and injury prevention; improving access and quality of care; reducing healthcare disparities; and programs with budgets less then $50,000.

For Improving Access and Quality of Care, Hunterdon Healthcare System’s Latino Healthcare Initiative was recognized for its efforts to link an often underserved population with healthcare services.  This initiative combined five programs to accomplish its goal. Among the programs are the Latino Well Child Clinics, Prenatal Health Literacy, Diabetes Patient Education and Nutritional Counseling, Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center Latino Outreach program and Hunterdon Regional Community Health Latino Program. Positive outcomes of the program include increases in health awareness and education, cancer screenings, prenatal care, well child visits and enrollment in Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare.

The New Jersey Hospital Association, based in Princeton, is the statewide advocate for its 111 member hospitals and the patients they serve.
Pictured left to right: Rich Miller, NJHA Board Chairman, Maria Montano, Latino Outreach Coordinator for Hunterdon Healthcare System, Robert Wise, President and CEO of Hunterdon Healthcare System and Gary Carter, President and CEO of NJHA pose for a picture at the 2008 Health Research and Educational Trust of New Jersey’s Community Outreach Awards.